If an antibiotic is just what the doctor orders during the ‘cough-and-cold’ season, your prescription won’t cost you a penny at Wegmans.

Diagnosing a nasty cough is now a lot easier thanks to a new test developed at McMaster University, which has just been approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States. This new test simultaneously detects the most prevalent respiratory viruses, including flu and the common cold, helping doctors more accurately diagnose patients.

Despite 20 years of research, the benefits of zinc lozenges as a therapy for the common cold have not been proven. A new study, published in the Sept. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online, reviews the 14 placebo-controlled studies from the past two decades and finds significant fault with 10 of the studies.